3. Republican and Tea Party attacks on Obamacare have suddenly been validated. They said that it was costly, that the administration hadn’t considered its impact carefully, and that the purchasing mandate would end up hurting middle class citizens. Now they can say they’ve been proven right.

And what does all of this say about Obama? It confirms the suspicion that he’s a one term president who happens to be serving two terms. All the rhetorical promises of the first term are proving empty in the second, as he drifts from crisis to crisis and flip to flop. Obama’s approval rating isn’t as low as it should be because a resource-led boom has given the country some much needed employment growth, but otherwise it’s hard for any American to be truly excited about this man’s lacklustre presidency. Liberals have even less reason, considering the things left undone. Guantanamo: still open. Civil liberties: the NSA’s still spying on people. Peace in the world and goodwill to all mankind: administration sources say that's being put on hold until 2093.

The fiscal conservative might welcome this news if the consumer mandated purchasing aspect of the reform didn’t still exist, which means that it’s the little people who will feel the impact of delaying the employer mandate for a year. Obama’s second term is turning into a paradoxical mix of inaction and injustice. Five years in and it's still difficult to understand what motivates this man.